On Friday, May 2, 2025, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) published the U.S. Department of State’s approval of a potential sale to Ukraine of a support package for the operation of Lockheed Martin F-16AM/BM multirole aircraft, valued at up to 310.5 million USD.
Photo: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
According to the published information, the government in Kyiv requested the possibility of acquiring a package of training services and F-16 operational support along with associated equipment.
In addition, the package includes the following items not classified as Major Defense Equipment (MDE): aircraft modifications and upgrades, training of personnel related to maintenance, operation, and support, spare parts, consumables and accessories, repair and return support, ground handling equipment, classified and unclassified software delivery and support, classified and unclassified publications and technical documentation, studies and surveys, engineering, technical, and logistics services provided by the U.S. government and contract partners (Valiant Integrated Services, Top Aces Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Pratt and Whitney, Snap-on, Inc., BAE Systems, Inc., AAR Corporation, and Comsetra, LLC), and other related logistical and program support elements.
Analysis
The approval of the above package came after the Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post reported on May 1, citing diplomatic sources, that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to move forward, via Congress, with an unspecified package of arms and military equipment worth over 50 million USD under the Direct Commercial Sale (DCS) program—meaning directly from contractors, rather than through the Department of Defense and the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
It is worth noting that on April 25, 2025, at an airfield near the storage site operated by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) in Tucson, Arizona, three non-flyable F-16ADF multirole aircraft were observed being loaded onto a Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan heavy transport aircraft, which then delivered them to Rzeszów.
More intriguingly, on April 26, a 15-minute one-on-one meeting took place between Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican (on the occasion of Pope Francis’s funeral), which was said to be a breakthrough. Following this, on May 1, an agreement was signed to establish the U.S.-Ukraine Investment Fund for Reconstruction. Taken together, these events form a logical sequence.
The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine operates at least 18 F-16AM/BM aircraft (two of which have been lost in action), donated by Denmark and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In total, Kyiv is expected to receive 95 F-16AM/BM fighters: 19 from Denmark, 24 from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 22 from Norway, and 30 from Belgium (the latter are expected to be delayed).
Ukrainian F-16s are armed with short-range AIM-9L/M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, medium-range AIM-120B AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles), and satellite-guided GBU-39/B SDB I (Small Diameter Bomb) glide bombs. Ukraine also possesses newer AIM-120C and AIM-9X missiles, although the latter are intended for NASAMS air defense systems. The aircraft are equipped with AN/ALQ-131(V) electronic countermeasure (ECM) pods, although earlier reports by Forbes indicated that the Trump administration had halted support and software updates for these systems.
The previous F-16 support package was approved by the administration of then-President Joe Biden on December 10, 2024, and was valued at up to 266.4 million USD. Earlier information on support for Ukraine’s F-16s included a contract dated September 20, 2024, for the delivery of two landing aid system sets from Advanced Navigation and Positioning Corp., as well as efforts to enhance the combat capabilities and survivability of the aircraft through the development, testing, and delivery of a full spectrum of electronic warfare software support, as reported on August 26, 2024.